The rear axle was not making any odd noises on my short drive home back on 2010 and the gears of the differential all looked good so I decided that the gears and the bearings were ok but since it was leaking oil from every orifice, the oil seals needed replacing. The axle is stamped TS64896 and I have no reason to think that is not the original axle.

Removing the brakes, half shafts, back plates etc was pretty straightforward and a few hours with some abrasive pads in the die grinder dealt with the surface rust. There is a tab on the rear cover that is used to secure the brake line and mine was missing, rusted away, so I made a new one and plug welded it to the cover.

The axle got the same finish as the chassis using the Eastwood chassis paint.

This is November 2012 so the heater is there to help the paint dry in the winter temperatures.

The axle seals were simple to replace and after prying out the old pinion seal I decided to fit a speedi sleeve to the pinion shaft. Even though the shaft was showing minimal wear I figured the speedi sleeve would be good insurance. This is speedi sleeve part number 99149 and includes the sleeve and the installation tool. All you need to provide is the hammer.

After installing the speedi sleeve and the new pinion oil seal I filled the differential with the required gear oil and had the axle on a stand with the nose pointing down. It started to drip oil, leaking via the splines on the pinion shaft. I applied some sealant to the splines, re-assembled and re-tested the axle for leaks. No drips after a week on the stands.

No issues installing the new brake parts

I installed the axle and the rear springs using superpro components and the rear spring front locating kit.

Overall nothing that complicated and one step closer to having a rolling chassis again.